Certain
experts are now advising the government to step in and prevent food and
drink advertisers from pushing their unhealthy choices so heavily on
children. According to the stats, $11
billion was spent by the food and beverage industry last year in
advertising for mostly high-calorie, nutritionally weak products.
Now experts are finding companies are increasingly targeting children
through the Internet, product placement and other activities. It’s no
wonder 9 million U.S. children and teenagers, or about 16 percent, are
obese compared with 5 percent in the 1960s. The number of young people
with type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity, also is on the rise.
According to Sen. Tom Harkin, "the onslaught of junk-food marketing is endangering the health of our children."